First, some info. To get to this 15-film Short List, about 150 AMPAS documentary branch members are expected to watch the 89 entries, pick the best and let the race begin. The actual award show is months away, and there's already a lot of huffing and puffing going on.

While we were proud of titles such as Garbage Dreams, Living in Emergency: Stories of Doctors Without Borders, Mugabe and the White African and Soundtrack for a Revolution that qualified as part of the IDA DocuWeeks showcase this past summer, we too saw some obvious omissions: Afghan Star, Capitalism: A Love Story, The September Issue, We Live in Public, Defamation, Crude and Anvil!: The Story of Anvil. We weren't the only ones shocked.

An LA Times piece called "Frustration over Oscars' documentary short list" focused on the snub of Capitalism, but also noted that this wasn't the first time popular docs went unacknowledged. In 1990 Moore's Roger & Me got dissed. Also missing from the nomination list for their respective years: Hoop Dreams, Gizzly Man and The Thin Blue Line.

The LAT's Big Picture blog later asked "Is anyone unhappy about the Oscars' snub of Michael Moore?" The short answer: maybe not.

But back to that frustration. You can't have a little frustration without some controversy. Tyson filmmaker James Toback threw verbal punches when reached by the New York Times for a piece called "Oscar Short List of Documentaries Draws Controversy."

From the piece:

Mr. Toback said only that he had experienced something connected with the selections process, “which I put fully in the category of extortion that I did not go along with.”

Mr. Toback added that he was “furious” at himself for “having chosen to be passive and quiet in the face of that extortion.”

Asked about that claim, Rob Epstein, a filmmaker who is chairman of the executive committee of the documentary branch, said: “I have no idea. It certainly hasn’t come before me.”

Strong words from Toback (hey, the dude does know Mike Tyson.) While all of the chatter was going on, the LAT's Arts Beat column asked "Oscar Question of the Day: Who Chooses the Documentary Short List?"

The piece broke down the process and pointed out there is "certainly room for skewed results."

Skewed results or not. Snubs or winners. Epstein, said there are bound to be winners, losers, surprises and snubs in any election process. “Each year, there are painful omissions,” he was quoted as saying in the piece. “This year is no exception. There is no way around that. This year was an extremely strong year.”

And we're just getting started.

For only the third time in the 25-year history of the Awards, the IDA will present its Amicus Award to attorney and independent film advocate Michael Donaldson. Previously presented to John Hendricks and Steven Spielberg, the IDA Amicus Award acknowledges the friends of the documentary who have contributed significantly to our industry. An entertainment attorney who has been fighting for independent filmmakers for over thirty years, Michael Donaldson has represented writers, producers and directors as the go-to-attorney for fair use and other clearance-related issues. He is also the author of several books; one of which, "Clearance and Copyright" is used in over 50 films schools and is the standard reference book for the industry.

Join us as we salute the work of Michael Donaldson at the 2009 IDA Documentary Awards!

That evening, the IDA will also award its prestigious 2009 Career Achievement Award to legendary and innovative filmmaker Errol Morris. 

Ira Glass, host and producer of This American Life, will be host the 2009 IDA Documentary Awards.

Join us as we honor the best documentaries of the year!

Let the race-and parlor games--begin! The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences today announced that 15 films in the Documentary Feature category will advance in the voting process for the 82nd Academy Awards®. Eighty-nine pictures had originally qualified in the category.

Among the titles include four that qualified as part of IDA DocuWeeks Showcase this past summer: Garbage Dreams, Living in Emergency: Stories of Doctors Without Borders, Mugabe and the White African and Soundtrack for a Revolution.

And among the missing: Afghan Star, Capitalism: A Love Story, The September Issue, We Live in Public,  Defamation, Crude and Anvil!: The Story of Anvil.

Here's the complete list:

• The Beaches of Agnes; Agnès Varda, director (Cine-Tamaris)
• Burma VJ,; Anders Østergaard, director (Magic Hour Films)
• The Cove ; Louie Psihoyos, director (Oceanic Preservation Society)
• Every Little Step; James D. Stern and Adam Del Deo, directors (Endgame Entertainment)
• Facing Ali; Pete McCormack, director (Network Films Inc.)
• Food, Inc.; Robert Kenner, director (Robert Kenner Films)
• Garbage Dreams; Mai Iskander, director (Iskander Films, Inc.)
• Living in Emergency: Stories of Doctors Without Borders; Mark N. Hopkins, director (Red Floor Pictures LLC)
• The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers; Judith Ehrlich and Rick Goldsmith, directors (Kovno Communications)
• Mugabe and the White African; Andrew Thompson and Lucy Bailey, directors (Arturi Films Limited)
• Sergio; Greg Barker, director (Passion Pictures and Silverbridge Productions)
• Soundtrack for a Revolution; Bill Guttentag and Dan Sturman, directors (Freedom Song Productions)
• Under Our Skin; Andy Abrahams Wilson, director (Open Eye Pictures)
• Valentino The Last Emperor ; Matt Tyrnauer, director (Acolyte Films)
• Which Way Home; Rebecca Cammisa, director (Mr. Mudd)

This summer, HBO Archives retrieved over 13,000 videotapes of never-before-cataloged footage highlighting all facets of the world of Entertainment dating from the early 1980’s to the late 1990’s. This newly available material now joins HBO Archives vast Entertainment News Library, covering the 1970’s to the present, all of which are offered for clip licensing. Learn more at http://www.hboarchives.com/entertainment

Current TV, the cable channel founded by former Vice President Al Gore, has begun overhauling its programming model, with the elimination of 80 full-time staff positions. Originally positioned as a showcase for short-form, user-generated content, Current is shifting toward a more traditional content strategy, with plans to run 30- and 60-minute programs, many of which will be acquisitions. Could this lead to more opportunities for freelance doc makers? (via Mediaweek)

I'm With Cancer scribe Will Reiser is in talks to write Young@Heart, Working Title's narrative remake of Fox Searchlight's singing-senior documentary. Working Title acquired remake rights to Heart in 2007. Stephen Walker's original doc Heart tells the story of a group of seniors who, under the tutelage of a younger choir director, sing versions of songs from artists such as The Clash, Coldplay and James Brown.

Looking for inspiration and advice? A few good reads for the week that have come across the desks of the IDA's Editorial Staff...

Over on DocumentaryInsider, Stephanie Hubbard interviews Kirby Dick about funding, how to choose subjects and the value of screening works-in-progress.

Zach Levy (Strongman) airs his thoughts on DIY distribution in a web exclusive article for Filmmaker Magazine. Levy says:

For more and more of us then, having already taken the lion’s share of the risk during production and now doing the basic distribution groundwork anyhow, taking that step towards full DIY begins to look exactly like a logical step forward and not some crazy blind leap off a cliff. Yes, we have reached a potential tipping point between traditional distribution and the DIY models, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

In the piece, he goes over the pros and cons of going the hybrid route, and puts forth the idea that if filmmakers are doing more of the work, they should reap not on the the financial rewards, but also increased creative opportunities.

Long-time Los Angeles City College professor Tom Stempel goes into detail on his teaching methods and the syllabus of films he uses for his class on the history of documentaries. He begins with a reel of early actuality films from the late 1890s and the early 1900s, and ends with films about the Iraq War, such as Gunner Palace (2004) or Baghdad ER (2006). In between, he covers everything from Capra's The Negro Soldier (1944) to Walt Disney documentaries from the late forties and early fifties such as Seal Island. Lots of choices for the Netflix queue...

As part of the IDA's 2009 Doc U Seminar series IDA Board President Eddie Schmidt sat down with director-producer R.J. Cutler for a fun and educational chat about docs, cinema verite storytelling, his career and more.

The evening began with a 30 minute career overview reel that ran through a selection of Cutler's work such as The War Room, A Perfect Candidate, TV series American High and his latest directorial effort, The September Issue. While setting it up, Schmidt told the audience he was looking forward to an entertaining evening, and quoting Fat Albert, added, "and you might learn something.

Another quote served as a kind of mantra for the evening when Cutler shared a story about hockey legend Wayne Gretzky: An interviewer once asked Gretzky "Tell us, Great One, how do you do it?" Gretzky replied, "I just follow the puck."

Cutler shared with the audience how he just "follows the puck" when creating his projects, even his first film, 1993's The War Room, a doc which was conceived to be about then-presidential nominee Bill Clinton, but benefited from focusing on spin doctor James Carville. "It was a clinic in process, everything was just discovery," he said. "We just filmed what struck us and that's what you should film."

"I like to watch," Cutler added, who prefers to not do any interviews with his subjects. If he must, he tries to conduct them after shooting because they can get in the way of the real story. "You're in danger of saying to the subject, 'This is what I want from you.' ... Life tells you what the movie should be, the movie tells you what the movie should be."

His tips for documentarians: Ask silly questions. Go in with a childlike wonder and be as curious as possible. But also take time to sit back, especially if the subject is feeling tense or simply having a bad day. Culter has even benefited from completely stopping down production.

"Go away for a couple of days," he advised. "Because they'll miss you. If it's a bad day, leave. You're building trust. Your goal isn't to get the juice. Your goal is to build a relationship."

He shared how those tactics helped him get through the production of The September Issue. By building a relationship with main subject Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour, he was eventually invited to her house for filming. Vogue creative director, Grace Coddington, another central part of the finished product, was originally completely against being in the movie at all. But Cutler took the time to build a relationship with her and initially connected with her over the art of photography.

After the moderated chat, Cutler took questions from the audience, giving advice and direction to the filmmakers in the room. Another handy tip: just call. His first film came together because he simply called Chris Hegedus and D.A. Pennebaker and said he wanted to work with them. When he wanted to make a film about Anna Wintour, he rang her up and asked her.

Culter also shared why he is moving away from running his successful TV production company to focus on directing. "You expand and contract at different times," he said and explained that even though he thought he was in a period of contraction, more doors than ever are opening for him. In other words, he's just following the puck.

The nominees for the International Documentary Association’s 2009 IDA Documentary Awards competition were announced today, including many of the year’s most buzzed-about titles and festival favorites. Winners will be feted on December 4th at the Directors Guild in Los Angeles, in a ceremony hosted by This American Life’s Ira Glass.

“As the boundaries of documentary film continue to be fearlessly shattered by the creativity of nonfiction filmmaking, IDA is proud to be honoring not only the best films of the year, but also many of those who have led the way,” said IDA Executive Director Michael Lumpkin. “The future of nonfiction storytelling could not be better represented by our outstanding host, Ira Glass, who continues to inspire and entertain across a number of media platforms.”

The IDA Documentary Awards will also recognize filmmakers and film journalists who displayed conspicuous bravery in the pursuit of truth -- and put Freedom of Speech above all else, including their own personal safety, in a special “Courage Under Fire” tribute to be presented by Current Media journalists Laura Ling and Euna Lee. In March of this year Ling and Lee were reporting on the trafficking of North Korean women who are fleeing poverty and repression only to end up being exploited across the border in neighboring China. Ling and Lee were apprehended by North Korean soldiers while filming along the Tumen river, which separates China and North Korea. They were sentenced to 12 years in a North Korean labor prison for illegal entry and unspecified hostile acts. After 140 days in captivity, Ling and Lee were eventually pardoned, and they returned to the United States following an unannounced visit to North Korea by former US President Bill Clinton on August 4, 2009.

The five nominated films for Distinguished Documentary Achievement in IDA’s feature category are: AFGAN STAR, the timely and moving film following the dramatic stories of four young finalists—two men and two women—as they hazard everything to compete in Afghanistan’s version of American Idol; ANVIL! THE STORY OF ANVIL, the hilarious and unexpectedly moving account of an obscure Canadian metal band’s last-ditch quest for elusive fame and fortune; DIARY OF A TIMES SQUARE THIEF, which documents the search for the writer of a mysterious diary that the filmmaker finds on EBay; FOOD, INC., that lifts the veil on our nation's food industry, exposing the highly mechanized underbelly that's been hidden from the American consumer with the consent of our government's regulatory agencies; and MUGABE AND THE WHITE AFRICAN, the story of Michael Campbell, a tough, humorous 74-year-old fifth-generation white African farmer who withstands land invasions and violence in his stand against Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe’s land seizure program. MUGABE AND THE WHITE AFRICAN participated in IDA’s DocuWeeks program in 2009.

The four nominated short films are: THE DELIAN MODE, an exploration of the life and work of electronic music pioneer Delia Derbyshire; SALT, a journey with photo-artist Murray Fredericks as he tries to capture the heart of the world's most featureless landscape on Lake Eyre, South Australia; SARI'S MOTHER, a mother’s navigation of Iraq’s health-care system in search of care for her son who is dying of AIDS; and THE SOLITARY LIFE OF CRANES, a visual poem–24 hours in life of a city seen through the eyes of crane operators. SALT and THE SOLITARY LIFE OF CRANES participated in IDA’s DocuWeeks program in 2009.

In the Limited Series category, the five nominees are: THE ALZHEIMER'S PROJECT, ARCHITECTURE SCHOOL, IN THEIR BOOTS, TIME FOR SCHOOL and WE SHALL REMAIN. Continuing Series nominees are AMERICAN EXPERIENCE, ICONOCLASTS and POV.

Other IDA competition categories include the IDA Music Award (now in its third year), the David L. Wolper Student Documentary Award, the ABC News Video Source Award, for best use of television news footage as an integral component, as well as the Pare Lorentz Award, presented to the filmmaker whose documentary best represents the activist spirit and lyrical vision of the acclaimed Pare Lorentz. For a complete list of nominees and finalists, please see the attached.

In addition to competitive awards for the year’s current crop of outstanding documentaries, IDA also acknowledges exemplary creative contributions to the field at large. IDA announced today that the 2009 Jacqueline Donnet Emerging Documentary Filmmaker Award will honor Natalia Almada. Born in Mexico, Almada's directing credits include ALL WATER HAS A PERFECT MEMORY, an internationally recognized experimental short, AL OTRO LADO, an award-winning feature documentary about immigration and drug trafficking, and EL GENERAL, her latest feature, which won the U. S. Directing Award: Documentary at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival. As previously announced, this year’s IDA Career Achievement honoree, to be celebrated during December’s event, is legendary and innovative filmmaker Errol Morris. Also to be honored are Nicolas Noxon, receiving the Pioneer Award, and attorney Michael Donaldson who is receiving IDA’s Amicus Award.

A departure from recent IDA Documentary Awards, this year’s evening will begin with an 8pm Awards ceremony followed immediately by an Awards Celebration at 10pm. The 2009 IDA Documentary Awards are sponsored by HBO Documentary Films, Planet Green, Sony Pictures Classics, Sundance Channel, ABC News VideoSource, Moxie Pictures, Participant Media, POV, Skywalker Sound, SnagFilms, Kodak, Directors Guild of America, Derby Wine Estates, and The Standard.

Tickets are available for purchase now at www.documentary.org/awards2009.

ABOUT IDA
The IDA is a nonprofit, membership organization based in Los Angeles. The organization was founded in 1982 to promote and celebrate nonfiction filmmakers and is dedicated to increasing public awareness and appreciation of the documentary genre. For more information about IDA visit www.documentary.org or call 213-534-3600.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Amy Grey / Ashley Mariner
Dish Communications
Phone: 818-508-1000
amyg@dishcommunicatons.com / ashleym@dishcommunications.com

2009 International Documentary Association Awards

Host

Ira Glass

Honors

CAREER ACHIEVEMENT AWARD

Errol Morris

PIONEER AWARD

Nicolas Noxon

AMICUS AWARD

Michael C. Donaldson

JACQUELINE DONNET EMERGING FILMMAKER AWARD

Natalia Almada

Feature Documentary Nominees

Afghan Star
Director/Producer: Havana Marking
Executive Producers: Mike Lerner, Martin Herring, Saad Mohseni, Jahid Mohseni
Kaboora Productions: Roast Beef Productions; Red Start Media; Zeitgeist Films in association with HBO Documentary Films

Anvil! The Story of Anvil
Director: Sacha Gervasi
Producer: Rebecca Yeldham
Little Dean's Yard; Ahimsa Films; Abramorama; VH1

Diary of a Times Square Thief
Director/Writer: Klaas Bense
Producers: Janneke Doolard, Hans de Weers, Reinout Oerlemans
Executive Producer: Janneke Doolaard
Eyeworks Film & TV Drama

Food, Inc.
Director/Producer: Robert Kenner
Producer: Elise Pearlstein
Co-Producers: Eric Schlosser, Richard Pearce, Melissa Robledo
Executive Producers: William Pohlad, Robin Schorr, Jeff Skoll, Diane Weyermann
River Road Entertainment; Participant Media; Magnolia Pictures

Mugabe and the White African
Directors: Lucy Bailey, Andrew Thompson
Producers: David Pearson, Elizabeth Morgan Hemlock
Executive Producers: Steve Milne, Pauline Burt
Arturi Films in association with Explore Films, Film Agency For Wales and Molinare Productions.

Short Documentary Nominees

The Delian Mode
Director//Producer/Writer: Kara Blake
Producer: Marie-Josée Saint-Pierre
Philtre Films

Salt
Directors: Michael Angus, Murray Fredericks
Producer/Writer: Michael Angus
Jerrycan Films

Sari's Mother
Director/Producer: James Longley
Daylight Factory LLC; HBO Documentary Films

The Solitary Life of Cranes
Director: Eva Weber
Producer: Samantha Zarzosa
Odd Girl Out Productions

Continuing Series Award-Nominees

American Experience
Executive Producer: Mark Samels
Senior Producer: Sharon Grimberg
Coordinating Producer: Susan Mottau
Series Manager: James E. Dunford
Series Producer: Susan Bellows
WGBH; PBS

Episodes Submitted:     
A Class Apart (Dirs./Prods.: Carlos Sandoval, Peter Miller; Writer: Carlos Sandoval)
The Trials of J. Robert Oppenheimer (Dir./Prod./Writer: David Grubin)
The Polio Crusade (Dir./Prod./Writer: Sarah Colt)
The Assassination of Abraham Lincoln (Dir./Prod./Writer: Barak Goodman)

Iconoclasts
Directors/Producers: Joe Berlinger, Bruce Sinofsky
@radical media; Grey Goose Entertainment; Sundance Channel

Episodes Submitted:
Desmond Tutu & Richard Branson
Stella McCartney & Ed Ruscha
Tony Hawk & John Favreau
Bill Maher & Clive Davis
Venus Williams & Wyclef Jean
Cameron Diaz & Cameron Sinclair

P.O.V.
Executive Director: Simon Kilmurry
Vice President: Cynthia López
American Documentary, Inc.; PBS

Episodes Submitted:
Inheritance (Dir./Prod.: James Moll; Prod.: Christopher Pavlick; Exec. Prods.: Chris Malachowsky, Ryan Malachowsky)
Campaign (Dir./Prod.: Kazuhiro Soda)
Up the Yangtse (Dir.: Yung Chang; Prods.: Mila Aung-Thwin, Germaine Ying-Gee Wong, John Christou; Exec. Prods.:  Daniel Cross, Mila Aung-Thwin, Ravida Din, Sally Bochner)

Limited Series Award--Nominees

Architecture School
Director/Executive Producer/Original Concept: Michael Selditch
Original Concept: Stan Bertheaud
Senior Producer: Rob Tate
Producer: Rachel Clift
Executive Producers: Lynne Kirby, Laura Michalchyshyn
Sundance Channel

The Alzheimer's Project
Series Producer: John Hoffman
Executive Producers: Sheila Nevins, Maria Shriver
Directors/Producers: Shari Cookson, Nick Doob, Eamon Harrington, John Watkin, Bill Couturié
Producers: John Hoffman, Susan Froemke, Anne Sandkuhler
HBO Documentary Films; National Institute on Aging at the National Institutes of Health; Alzheimer's Association; Fidelity Charitable Gift Fund; Geoffrey Beene Gives Back Alzheimer's Initiative.

In Their Boots
Executive Producer: Richard Ray Perez
Line Producer: Sandi Williams
Producers: Amanda Spain, Abe Greenwald
Brave New Foundation

Time for School
Executive Producer: Pamela Hogan
Producer/Writer: Oren Rudavsky
Producer: Tamara Rosenberg
Wide Angle; WNET Thirteen; PBS

We Shall Remain
Executive Producers: Mark Samels, Sharon Grimberg
Directors/Producers/Writers: Ric Burns, Dustin Craig, Sarah Colt
Director/Producer: Stanley Nelson
Director: Chris Eyre
Producer/Writer: Mark Zwonitzer
Producer: Rob Rapley
Writers: Anne Makepeace, Marcia Smith
American Experience; WGBH; Native American Public Television

ABCNews VideoSource Award--Finalists

Earth Days
Director/Producer/Writer: Robert Stone
Executive Producer: Mark Samels
American Experience Films; Zeitgeist Films

Mugabe and the White African
Directors: Lucy Bailey, Andrew Thompson
Producers: David Pearson, Elizabeth Morgan Hemlock
Executive Producers: Steve Milne, Pauline Burt
Arturi Films in association with Explore Films, Film Agency For Wales and Molinare Productions.

Sergio
Director: Greg Barker
Producers: John Battsek, Julie Goldman
Executive Producers: Samantha Power, Sheila Nevins, Nick Fraser
HBO Documentary Films; BBC Storyville

Shouting Fire: Stories from the Edge of Free Speech
Director/Producer: Liz Garbus
Producers: Rory Kennedy, Jed Rothstein
Executive Producers: Sheila Nevins, Nancy Abraham
Moxie Firecracker Films; HBO Documentary Films

Soundtrack for a Revolution
Directors/Producers/Writers: Bill Guttentag, Dan Sturman
Producers: Joslyn Barnes, Jim Czarnecki, Dylan Nelson               
Executive Producers: Danny Glover, Gina Harrell, Mark E. Downie, Marc Henry Johnson
Louverture Films; Freedom Song Productions; Goldcrest Films International; Wild Bunch

Studs Terkel
Director: Eric Simonson
Producers: Josh Veselka, Lisa Heller
Executive Producers: Sheila Nevins, Linda Ellerbee, Rolf Tessem
Lucky Duck Productions, Inc.; HBO Documentary Films

Thank You, Mr. President: Helen Thomas at the White House
Director/Producer: Rory Kennedy
Producers: Liz Garbus, Jack Youngelson
Executive Producer: Sheila Nevins
Moxie Firecracker Films; HBO Documentary Films

Valentino: The Last Emperor
Director/Producer: Matt Tyrnauer
Producer: Matt Kapp
Executive Producer: Carter Burden
Acolyte Films; Truly Indie; Vitagraph Films

Wounded Knee
Director/Producer: Stanley Nelson
Executive Producers: Sharon Grimberg, Mark Samels
Writer: Marcia Smith
Firelight Media; American Experience; WGBH; Native American Public Television

IDA Music Documentary Award - Nominees

Anvil! The Story of Anvil
Director: Sacha Gervasi
Producer: Rebecca Yeldham
Little Dean's Yard; Ahimsa Films; Abramorama; VH1

Archaeology of Memory: Villa Grimaldi
Directors/Producers: Quique Cruz, Marilyn Mulford
Interfaze Productions

The Audition
Director/Producer: Susan Froemke
Producer: Douglas Graves
Metropolitan Opera

It Might Get Loud
Director/Producer: Davis Guggenheim
Producers: Thomas Tull, Lesley Chilcott, Peter Afterman
Executive Producers: Bert Ellis, Mike Mailis
Steel Curtain Pictures; Sony Pictures Classics

Soundtrack for a Revolution
Directors/Producers/Writers: Bill Guttentag, Dan Sturman
Producers: Joslyn Barnes, Jim Czarnecki, Dylan Nelson               
Executive Producers: Danny Glover, Gina Harrell, Mark E. Downie, Marc Henry Johnson
Louverture Films; Freedom Song Productions; Goldcrest Films International; Wild Bunch

Tibet in Song
Director/Producer/Writer: Ngawang Choephel
Executive Producer: Anne Corcos
Guge Productions; Tashi Sholpa Productions

Pare Lorentz Award-Finalists

The Cove
Director: Louis Psihoyos
Producers: Fisher Stevens, Paula DuPre Pesmen
Co-Producer: Olivia Ahnemann
Executive Producer: Jim Clark
Oceanic Preservation Society; Diamond Dogs; Skyfish Films; Roadside Attractions; Lionsgate

Earth Days
Director/Producer/Writer: Robert Stone
Executive Producer: Mark Samels
American Experience Films; Zeitgeist Films

The Final Inch
Director/Producer: Irene Taylor Brodsky
Producer: Tom Grant
Vermilion Pictures; Google.org; HBO Documentary Films

Food, Inc.
Director/Producer: Robert Kenner
Producer: Elise Pearlstein
Co-Producers: Eric Schlosser, Richard Pearce, Melissa Robledo
Executive Producers: William Pohlad, Robin Schorr, Jeff Skoll, Diane Weyermann
River Road Entertainment; Participant Media; Magnolia Pictures

The Last Mermaids
Director/Producer: Liz Chae
Executive Producers: Kenneth K. Chae, Nam Im Yoon
Chae Films; Columbia University

Mugabe and the White African
Directors: Lucy Bailey, Andrew Thompson
Producers: David Pearson, Elizabeth Morgan Hemlock
Executive Producers: Steve Milne, Pauline Burt
Arturi Films in association with Explore Films, Film Agency For Wales and Molinare Productions.

Soundtrack for a Revolution
Directors/Producers/Writers: Bill Guttentag, Dan Sturman
Producers: Joslyn Barnes, Jim Czarnecki, Dylan Nelson               
Executive Producers: Danny Glover, Gina Harrell, Mark E. Downie, Marc Henry Johnson
Louverture Films; Freedom Song Productions; Goldcrest Films International; Wild Bunch

We Shall Remain
Executive Producers: Mark Samels, Sharon Grimberg
Directors/Producers/Writers: Ric Burns, Dustin Craig, Sarah Colt
Director/Producer: Stanley Nelson
Director: Chris Eyre
Producer/Writer: Mark Zwonitzer
Producer: Rob Rapley
Writers: Anne Makepeace, Marcia Smith
American Experience; WGBH; Native American Public Television

Youssou N'Dour: I Bring What I Love
Director/Producer/Writer: Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi
Co-Producers: Sarah Price, Scott Duncan, Hugo Berkeley, Gwyn Welles
Executive Producers: Jennifer Millstone, Patrick R. Morris, Edward Tyler Nahem, Kathryn Tucker, Jack Turner, Miklos C. Vasarhelyi
Groovy Griot; 57^th & Irving Productions; Shadow Distribution

IDA/David L. Wolper Student Documentary Award-Nominees

Arresting Ana
Director/Producer: Lucie Schwartz
University of California at Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism

Famous 4A
Director/Producer: Mike Attie
Stanford University

The First Kid to Learn English from Mexico
Director/Producer: Peter Jordan
Localfilms; Stanford University

The Last Mermaids
Director/Producer: Liz Chae
Executive Producers: Kenneth K. Chae, Nam Im Yoon
Chae Films; Columbia University

My Name is Sydney
Director/Producer: Melanie Levy
Stanford University

The DIY cognoscenti flocked to Los Angeles this past weekend for a double-barreled dose of wisdom, proffered first on Saturday by distribution and new media gurus Peter Broderick and Scott Kirsner at the day-long Distribution U seminar at USC (Documentary's own Tamara Krinsky will deliver a report in the future). The next day, and across town in Santa Monica at the American Film Market, IDA sponsored a panel, "The DIY Distribution Playbook: What's Working Now, and What's Coming Next," that filled the room for what was one of the few docu-centric offerings at the Market. Moderated by IDA Board member and Distribber CEO Adam Chapnick, the panel included filmmakers Sacha Gervasi (Anvil!: The Story of Anvil), Scott Hamilton Kennedy (The Garden) and Matt Tyrnauer (Valentino: The Last Emperor), all of whom seem to have been clocking as much time on the fall panel appearance circuit as on the festival circuit. Lisa Smithline, a guru in her own right in terms of marketing strategy, rounded out the panel.

While the economic collapse has fueled the drive to DIY over the past two years, for Gervasi and Tyrnauer, the strategy to go it alone was equally informed by the paltry offers they received--those seven-figure days are long gone--as it was by the need to control the process and get the film out there in the smartest, best way possible.

And both filmmakers had strokes of luck in the strangest ways. For Tyrnauer, filmmaker Ivan Reitman had seen the film, then screened it for his neighbor, the great and powerful Oprah-whose people insisted to Tyrnauer that she was not interested. But she was: "I want to tell the world about your movie," she exclaimed to the filmmaker at a party, to which he replied, "Please do." And thus he was "Ophrah'd." The film ran for six months in the theaters, and made $1.7 million.

Garvasi's happy accident occurred in the basement of a pub in Prague that was hosting a heavy metal film festival. Of all the gin joints in the world, two executives from VH1 happened to stumble on this one--and loved Anvil., enough to showcase the trailer, promote the Anvil Experience tour, and air the film. Then more manna: New Yorker film critic Anthony Lane praised the film in his million-circulation publication, AC-DC invited Anvil to open for them; Chris Martin of Coldplay tweeted about the film to his followers; and Pearl Jam and Madonna circulated the film among their respective posses.

Scorr Kennedy didn't have those kind of high-wire experiences with The Garden--his audience of "radicals, lefties and greenies" doesn't have that kind of clout--but he still books three non-theatrical screenings per week, some eight months after the theatrical premiere. Lisa Smithline stressed that "outreach must begin the day you begin making the film." And all panelists agreed with Smithline that despite the less-than-promising state of the theatrical market, "We need theaters for reviews and a profile, as a platform to move forward."

And all panelists stressed to keep as many of your rights as possible--DVD, website, non-theatrical screenings, educational markets--and create a sound website strategy using all the social networking tools at your disposal to generate repeat visitors. "Show up at all your premieres, and meet your audience," Tyrnauer said. He never knew that national sewing groups even existed, but they came to see Valentino in droves.

A vital part of DIY is publicity and marketing, and a good publicist can cost up to $15,000 per month. Tyrnauer suggested that a combination of publicists for three months and interns for the duration of the run might be more cost-effective. Smithline advised to raise an equal amount of money for publicity, distribution and marketing as you would for the production and post-production costs. Know the lead times of major publications and hold off on pitching for a major article until around your release date. "You don't want to fire your gun too soon," Garvasi advised.

DIY is at once empowering and exhausting. But it's the once and future reality--one that takes a lot of chutzpah and a little luck. "Don't give away your power," Garvasi advised. "And don't take no for an answer."

New on SnagFilms: Anthony Edwards (of ER and Top Gun fame) has just completed a new documentary film about a young runner, Ole Kane Lettura, he met while on vacation with his family in Africa. From the Mara to the Marathon was completed just in time for the NYC Marathon, and chronicles the two weeks in 2008 that Edwards and Lettura spent together in Africa and NYC training for the 2008 NYC Marathon. The film is available for the first time ever on SnagFilms.com right here. Now take a seat…to watch a movie about running.

As if she's not busy enough already, Oprah Winfrey will narrate Discovery Channel's Life series, being released in 2010.

The hip-hop world is a buzz over the upcoming documentary about Lil Wayne called The Carter. Set for DVD release on Nov. 17, it takes an in-depth look at the rapper by chatting with the artist himself and interviewing those that know him best. The Carter premiered at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival. Pick up your copy at Amazon and check out the trailer right here:

The Boing Boing blog calls it a "documentary about paper folding," and yeah, sure Between the Folds, is about that, but so much more. The doc about hardcore origami enthusiasts will is presented by PBS's Independent Lens and will show on PBS on December 8. The MAKE blog is a little more generous with their description:

The film documents "a determined group of theoretical scientists and fine artists who have abandoned their careers and scoffed at their graduate degrees to forge new lives as modern-day paper folders."

Featured in the film are MIT's youngest-ever tenured professor Dr. Erik Demaine; mathematician, sculptor, puzzle maker, and self-taught computer scientist Marty Demaine; master free-style folder Vincent Floderer; pioneering Israeli educator Miri Golan; mathematics professor Dr. Tom Hull; trained artist and instructor Paul Jackson; one of the most technically accomplished folders in the world, Eric Joisel; one of only a few handmade origami papermakers in the world, Michael LaFosse; origami "hyper-realist" and physicist Dr. Robert J. Lang; material artist with a masterful understanding of patterns and geometry, Chris K. Palmer; and the father of modern origami, Akira Yoshizawa.

So are these people nuts or geniuses (or a bit of both?) See for yourself, here's the trailer: